Impact
by Sophiecinders14
Summary: The whole of Mobius watches as meteors fly past their planet, assured by scientists that there is no danger. Suddenly, things go wrong when a meteor hits the moon and breaks apart, the broke pieces head towards Mobius and through atmosphere. After the meteorite fragments land, natural distasters begin to occur, threatening the safety of the planet when the moon enters a new orbit.
1. Chapter 1

"All over the world, you will find Mobians are gathering outside their homes to watch an event of a lifetime. In a few minutes, over one thousand meteors will be passing right over our heads. We have been informed by scientists worldwide that the meteors are too far to be any threat to our planet, so there is nothing to fear. The only thing this reporter can really say to you is go outside and be prepared for a sight that will leave you speechless." The reporter on the television smiled.

Sonic and Shadow had set up their equipment, they were ready to watch the meteors fly across the sky and to watch to see if any would actually make it through Mobius' atmosphere.

"I'm hungry. I'm getting a chilli dog." Sonic stated and reached into his backpack.

"You and those bloody chilli dogs, I swear one day you're going to get fat." Shadow sighed.

"At the speed I run, I burn all the calories I consume in one chilli dog in a sonic second." Sonic smiled and consumed the chilli dog he had just removed from his lunch box.

"Here they come, get ready Sonic." Shadow stated. Sonic quickly turned to his computer and typed in a few commands. Soon, a map of the whole terrain of the city they were in appeared on the screen. He held his thumb up to Shadow who nodded and looked into the telescope.

Knuckles sat on top of the Master Emerald watching as the streaks of light appeared in the sky. He wasn't that interested in meteors or meteorites, but, this was a sight that wouldn't be around for another million years, so he guessed he might as well watch it. He'd never see it again after all. About five minutes into the event, an explosion echoed through the air. Knuckles stood up and got in his fighting stance, thinking it was someone who was attempting to steal the Master Emerald. However, it was when he stood up he realised what had really happened. In the night sky, he could see something had hit the moon. Mobians all over the world watched in horror as the event began to unfold, however, Shadow was the most concerned. He was a specialist on meteors and meteorites. He knew the thing that hit the moon was a meteorite, if it was big enough to cause that amount of damage, then it would be big enough to get through Mobius' atmosphere.

"Sonic! We've got one! And it's a big one!" Shadow snapped. However, his voice became more concerned when he saw there wasn't just one large meteorite heading towards Mobius.

"Shit! Sonic, we've got a red! We've got a red! Get out of here! Now!" Shadow ordered. Sonic quickly picked up his laptop and started running away as fast as he could. Shadow quickly followed him. They could see the meteorite heading towards where they were, they just could only hope they'd get away from the impact zone in time.

Knuckles leapt out of the way just before a meteorite hit him. He got sent flying back from the force of the explosion, his back hitting against the trunk of a nearby tree. He groaned in pain and slowly got onto his hands and knees. When he looked up, he saw a crater in the ground a few meters from where the Master Emerald alter was. Knuckles painfully got to his feet and walked over to the crater. It must have been ten meters wide in every angle and five seven meters deep.

"What on Mobius...?" Knuckles gasped as he saw the meteorite in the crater. It was no bigger than his head and wasn't smoking. There was no sign of it being in a fragile state. Cautiously, Knuckles began to climb down into the crater. He tried grabbing the meteorite, but, it was stuck to the ground.

"Knuckles! Knuckles?! Where are you?!" A voice yelled, one that belonged to Vector.  
"Down here!" Knuckles called. Soon, the faces of Vector, Mighty and Espio could be seen.

"What are you doing down there?" Mighty asked.

"Trying to get this out so I can send it off to a meteorite specialist." Knuckles stated.

"Let me help you." Vector smiled and started to make his way down into the crater. However, when he began to climb down, his walkman and headphones were sent flying towards the meteorite. When they reached it, they stuck to it. Knuckles jumped back in shock.

"I thought those things weren't magnetic." Espio said in a confused tone.

"Meteorites. An they're not." Knuckles stated.

"How do you know?" Vector asked as he tried to remove his walkman and headphones.

"I studied magnetic forces when I was a kid, I think I'd know." Knuckles added.


	2. Chapter 2

The following days were days of major concern. Mobians went into panic, after all, they had been assured there was no danger of anything landing on their planet, yet, it had. Knuckles managed to sent the meteorite that had landed near him to a place where specialists on meteors and meteorites worked, hoping they would find something in it that would explain why it had come so close to Mobius and ended up hitting the moon, which, luckily wasn't too damaged by the impact. Sonic had studied the terrains in every area where the meteorites landed, checking for anything unusual that might have happened or any weird patterns made by the meteorites themselves. Shadow studied the samples that were sent to him for hours, however, it was only when he studied the one Knuckles had sent in did he find something. He quickly grabbed his phone and called Sonic.

"Hello? Blue blur speaking." Sonic called down the phone when he answered.

"I still can't believe you say that. I've got something on the meteorite Knuckles sent us. It's magnetic, meaning it can only be one thing. A brown dwarf." Shadow stated.

"A brown dwarf? Are you sure. No one's had their hands on one of those before." Sonic said.

"Well, it's magnetic, so it must be." Shadow shrugged.

"Well, I've found something too. When meteorites normally land, they usually leave some sort of trail if they land on an angle and roll until they stop moving. The first sample you received landed on an angle, but, it didn't roll. It just went straight down into the earth." Sonic stated.

"Meaning?" Shadow asked.

"Meaning it was pulled towards something under the surface." Sonic stated.

"Go find Knuckles, he's the one that knows all the forces stuff." Shadow ordered and hung up.

Meanwhile, the weather was making an unusual change. Normally in the summer months, it was warm, sunny and had very few cold breezes. All over Mobius, the weather was changing to more winter like conditions. The air was getting colder, it was beginning to become cloudy and starting to rain almost everywhere. Strong winds blew, causing some parts of buildings to be torn off. A day later, things got worse. Tornadoes began to tear through populated areas, sea levels began to rise and tidal waves started hitting cities. A large storm was brewing over Echidnaopolis, and Knuckles was caught in the middle of it. Suddenly, the island began to fall from its place in the sky and down towards the sea below. People could be heard screaming in fright from all directions. When the island landed in the sea, due to the chaos energy of the master emerald, it floated. Knuckles stood up and looked around, then froze at the sight he saw. A tidal wave was headed straight for the island. He quickly placed the Master Emerald in the underground chamber that was there for emergencies and began to run towards Echidnaopolis, hoping to save as many lives as possible. When he arrived, he saw people running towards high ground. Cars had been abandoned and people were pushing and shoving others out of the way. Suddenly, a strong wind started to blow, causing several cars to be sent flying into the air. One car hit another, causing it to roll over due to the impact. The car then hit the wall of a building and the second car got wedged besides it, stopping all the doors of the first car from opening. At first, this didn't concern Knuckles, however, that changed when he spotted a pink female Echidna in the car that was trapped between the wall and the second car. He looked behind him to see the tidal wave had just hit the edge of the island and was approaching fast. He quickly ran over to the girl and punched the windscreen and helped her out. He the grabbed her wrist and they both began running towards a tall building. Knuckles quickly opened the door, pulled the girl through and closed it. They both reached the stairs just as the wave smashed through the doors and started to fill the ground level of the building with water.

"Go! Quick!" Knuckles ordered. The girl quickly ran up the stairs, followed by Knuckles. The water was literally biting at their ankles. However, eventually it stopped rising, they were safe.

"Thank you, for saving my life." The girl panted.

"Don't mention it." Knuckles smiled, also panting as he spoke. He looked out of the window to see the whole of Echidnaopolis engulfed by water, besides for a few tall buildings.

"Now what do we do?" Several voices asked, Knuckles turned around to see several of the Echidnas who had escaped the tidal wave, all of them looked terrified.

"We wait for help." The girl Knuckles had saved stated.


	3. Chapter 3

Sonic tried ringing Knuckles, but the Echidna failed to answer his phone. After ringing for the seventh time, Sonic came to the conclusion something had happened to him. Not knowing any other way to find out, Sonic switched on the television and turned to the news channel. A female reporter who looked in her late twenties or early thirties appeared on the screen, she wore a black suit.

"Our top story tonight, the floating Island has fallen. Exactly two hours ago, it was reported that the floating Island had fallen into the sea below, but managed to stay afloat due to the Chaos Energy that surrounds it. A few minutes after it landed, the island was hit by a tidal wave which had been the result of tectonic plates hitting each other from the south. The wave was a huge fifty meters above sea level and it is unknown whether anyone survived its ferocious attack." The reporter said.

"Oh shit." Sonic gasped, not knowing what else to say.

"A team of search and rescue officers are arranging to travel to the island some time this week, but the danger must be assessed before they can take any action. The temperature of the water that has all but consumed the island has dropped dramatically since the island first fell. Its current temperature is at zero degrees, but it shows signs that it is still dropping. It won't take long for the water to freeze and become ice, making it easier for rescue teams to search for survivors. However, if they went when the water froze, the temperatures would be too cold for anyone to survive in. Debate over when rescue teams should travel to the island continue." The reporter continued.

"Just keep yourself safe, Knux." Sonic whispered.

On the floating island, Knuckles was bandaging up a cut a small child had received while running through the mess and scrap metal on the island to get to safety. The first aid kid had been relatively easy to find, and luckily, some antiseptic spray and cream had been within it. This meant, there was no chance of the child's wound becoming infected, however he knew there was others with wounds and not enough cream or spray to ensure they all wouldn't be at the risk of infection.

"Someone's going to have to go out onto the ice and find some more." A voice behind him said. He looked to see the girl he'd saved from getting killed by the wave was looking down at him.

"There's one problem, the water's now turned into ice meaning, the temperature is too cold for anyone to survive in. The only reason we're still alive is because there's plenty of books to burn for a fire." Knuckles explained and stood up after he'd finished bandaging the child's wound up.

"Yeah, and those will run out sooner or later. I know for a fact the rescue teams wont come until it's too late. They'll assess the danger and then they'll disagree on the safest time to come. If we want to survive, we have to save ourselves. I don't know about you, but, I'm not giving up just yet. You stay here and wait to die, I'm going out to get supplies." She stated and walked off. Knuckles groaned in frustration and quickly followed her. If going out in the cold wasn't bad enough, seeing as Echidnas were more accustomed to tropical climates, he had to be out there with a stubborn female.

*she reminds you of yourself, doesn't she?* an annoying voice in his head chuckled.

Meanwhile, Shadow's eyes widened as he watched the same news report as Sonic had been watching. If the Island had fallen, that meant there was a possibility Knuckles had fallen with it. Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up in incredible speed, preying it was Knuckles.

"Hello?" Shadow called down the phone, the hope could be heard in his voice.

"Shadow, it's Sonic. Have you seen the new report?" Sonic asked down the line.  
"Yes." Shadow sighed, the disappointment in his voice was obvious.

"You know Knuckles is fine, there's no way he'd let a wave take him out." Sonic reassured.

"I'm more concerned for him if he survived Sonic, the current temperature of that place from my readings is minus ten degrees. Echidnas can only survive in tropical climates. Either he's going to die from the cold, or starvation. We both know the rescue teams won't go until it's too late." Shadow sighed, the concern in his voice echoed down the line and into Sonic's ears.

"There's got to be a working phone there somewhere. You scan the area and try to find a working line. Hopefully someone will be there and answer it." Sonic ordered and then hung up. Shadow sighed and quickly got to work on finding a working phone line.  
"Please be alive Knuckles." Shadow whispered as he typed in the commands into the computer.


	4. Chapter 4

Knuckles followed the female Echidna out of the building they had been in. Both had put a thick fluffy coat on that they found within the building's storage cupboard and then headed out. The ice crunched beneath Knuckles' feet. He stopped walking when the girl suddenly came to a stop.

"Something wrong?" Knuckles asked her, but all he got for a response was her holding her hand up, a signal for him to be quiet. As he focused, he soon found out why she'd stopped. A was phone ringing. They both ran as fast as they could, with caution, towards the place where the noise was coming from. Knuckles kicked down the door of the E.S.T centre, groaning at the sight he saw. Due to the incredibly good insulation inside the building, the water within the building had not frozen.

"You stay here, I'll go." Knuckles ordered, took off his coat and quickly walked into the building. By the time he had finally reached the phone, he was chest deep in water. He picked it up and then put it to his ear, hoping and preying it was someone who could help.

"Hello?" He called, the sound of his voice trembling could be heard echoing down the phone.

"Knuckles? Is that you?" A voice gasped, one he knew that belonged to Shadow.

"You were expecting someone else?" Knuckles shivered.

"No, I was hoping it was you. How many people have survived Knuckles? If I can get a good enough number from you, then I might just be able to convince the rescue teams to go today." Shadow asked. Knuckles paused for a minute, trying to think of how many people there were.

"With us, there's got to be between thirty and fifty. There could be others out there too. I've gone out to look for supplies so I might find some people while I'm at it." Knuckles explained.  
"You've gone out into the cold?! Knuckles you could die from hypothermia from just being out there for five minutes, the temperature is minus twenty degrees!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Then you're not going to like what I say next. To answer the phone, I had to go into chest deep water and truth be told, it's fucking freezing." Knuckles added.

"Get out of that water now! I'll go and tell the rescue teams about the numbers, just get out of that blood water right now!" Shadow snapped. Knuckles scoffed and hung up, then quickly got out.

"Well, who was it?" The girl asked and wrapped his coat around him.

"My friend Shadow, I told him how many there were with us and he's going to try and get the rescue teams to come today." Knuckles explained, shivering as he did so.

"We need to get you out of the cold and warmed up." The girl sighed.

Sonic answered the phone immediately after it rang. He held it to his ear and listened for a voice.  
"Knuckles is alive and there's between thirty and fifty people with him. Bloody prick answered a phone that was only reachable if he went in chest deep freezing cold water. Anyway, I'm calling the rescue team, but, I thought I'd let you know he was safe first, at least for now." Shadow explained.

"Right, thanks for telling me Shadow. Let's just hope the rescue team think it's enough people to save in order for them to get off their butts." Sonic sighed and hung up.

Knuckles breaths were fast and short, his teeth were clenched and he had the girl's coat around him as well as his own. She'd helped him remove his shirt so he'd warm up slightly quicker, then she'd wondered off to try and find something she could burn to build a fire to keep them both warm, leaving him on his own. She'd taken him into some kind of restaurant and led him into the dining area. Soon, she returned carrying some newspaper, a match box and a small circular metal grill, one people used to cook hot dogs and burgers while camping. She put the newspapers into the grill and then set them on fire with one of the matches. She walked off again and shortly returned with some wooden blocks, then put them into the fire as well. She then sat down beside Knuckles.

"I never got your name." Knuckles pointed out as he let the fire warm up his body.

"Julie-Su." She smiled, then gently pushed her hand against his head. He was still freezing.

"I'll warm up eventually." Knuckles shrugged, noticing the concern in her eyes.  
"If you don't warm up now, you'll die." She stated. She quickly removed her shirt so she was only in her bra and wrapped her arms around him, gently resting her chest against his.

"Don't flatter yourself, survival 101." She smirked, noticing his expression. He scoffed with a smile. He then began to feel his body warming up as her heat passed through into him.


	5. Chapter 5

"The latest new on the floating Island; even though the temperature say it's too cold for anyone to survive, we have been informed there are survivors on the island, their numbers over thirty. Rescue teams will be launching a mission tomorrow morning to go and rescue them." The news reporter on the television screen explained. Sonic sighed with relief, at least they were going to rescue them. Shadow must have gotten through their thick skulls at some point during the conversation. If Knuckles survived the night, then he could be bought over here for care and then he could help them work out the mystery of the meteorite. Sonic soon turned the television off, not caring for any of the other news. All he cared about was his friend getting here, safe and sound.

Knuckles opened his eyes to find it was almost pitch black except for the light the fire was giving off. He looked beside him to see Julie-Su was no longer resting against him, however she hadn't wondered off. She was just sitting up and poking at the fire with a metal rod. She hadn't put her shirt back on, so she was still in her bra. Knuckles slowly sat up, groaning in pain as a sudden sharp feeling appeared in his back. Julie-Su's head instantly turned to look at him.

"You alright?" She asked. He nodded and eventually got into a seated position.

"I've never seen you on Echidnaopolis before, you new here or...?" Knuckles asked.

"I came here after the meteors went through the atmosphere. You see, most people study the terrain, or the meteorites, or forces, but not me, I study the weather and I'd noticed the weather had changed considerably after the meteorites had landed. We were having far more storms and the weather was more like what the opposite of what it should have been." Julie-Su explained.

"So, you came here to study the weather here?" Knuckles asked.

"No. When the Island was floating, it was the best place to scan weather conditions all over Mobius. I thought I could get better results from here than anywhere else." Julie-Su added.

"Oh. Well, in a way were colleges. I study magnetic forces." Knuckles stated.  
"Really. Anything you notice about those that have changed?" Julie-Su asked.

"I couldn't tell without my scanner, but, one thing I do know is the meteorite that landed here, it was magnetic. I sent it off to my friend Shadow who specialises in meteors and meteorites." Knuckles explained. Julie-Su's expression went from a casual one to a shocked one.

"Did you say it was magnetic?" She asked.

"Yeah, why does that have anything to do with it?" Knuckles asked.

"If it was magnetic, then that could be why the weather has been the way it has." Julie-Su stated.

"Well, I have a feeling when we're rescued from this place, Shadow will want me in." Knuckles sighed. For a little while, the two continued to talk about the meteorite that fell to Angel Island. The two soon began to get tired and laid down to go to sleep. Knuckles noticed Julie-Su resumed her position of laying against his chest. He looked down at her, noticing how peaceful she looked.

"I'm not cold any more, Julie-Su, why are you still laying on me?" Knuckles asked, smirking.

"Well, you're a lot more comfortable than the stone floor." Julie-Su shrugged.

"I'll take that as a complement." Knuckles chuckled and closed his eyes to go to sleep.

Much to the protests of the rescue team, Sonic had accompanied them to help find Knuckles. After all, Shadow had told him Knuckles had been in the E.S.T centre when he called. Sonic figured he couldn't have gone to far from there being as cold as he was. When he arrived at the E.S.T centre, he found two sets of footprints leading towards and away from it. He decided to follow the ones that were leading away from it. Soon, he came to a small building that looked like a restaurant. Cautiously, Sonic went inside. He could smell the faint scent of smoke, like it was coming from a recently extinguished fire. He could then feel the warmth in the air, the warmth the fire must have created. He walked through the tables in the dining room area until he found the Echidna he was looking for, however, his friend was not alone. There was another Echidna sleeping beside him, a pink female and she had her head resting against his chest. Sonic realised she must have been with him when he answered the call from Shadow, she must have been the second set of footprints, she must have used her body heat to save his life. Just then, Knuckles groaned and opened his eyes.  
"Morning sleeping beauty." Sonic smirked, chuckling as Knuckles shot him a sour look.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, Knuckles, whose the girl?" Sonic asked as he sat down on a chair opposite the Echidna pair.

"Julie-Su, she's a weather specialist and she saved my life." Knuckles stated.

"Uh huh, is that all she did for you?" Sonic smirked.

"Oh would you grow up?!" Knuckles snarled and gently removed himself from her. When he emerged from the coats and stood up, Sonic could see how much his friend had changed over the years. He was much taller now, his shoulders were broader too. The muscles in his arms looked quite a great amount bigger, so Sonic figured he must have been working out. This theory was also supported by the six pack on Knuckles' chest, something Sonic knew hadn't been there the last time they'd seen each other. Knuckles turned away from Sonic and walked over to a shirt which had been placed over a chair near the fire. As he turned, Sonic noticed two scars on Knuckles' back, both were very long and looked like they had been painful to receive. Knuckles put the shirt on and turned back around. He noticed Sonic had an almost curious look on his face, probably about the twin scars on his back, ones that looked like they could have come from his namesakes.

"Three years ago, metal Knuckles." Knuckles stated quickly before Sonic could even think to ask.

"Right. Come on, we'd better get you two back to the rescue team." Sonic stated.

"I'll leave waking her up to you. Last time I woke up a girl, well, let's just say I nearly got another scar and I'm not willing to go through that experience again." Knuckles smirked. Sonic groaned and walked over to Julie-Su, who had a very peaceful expression about her. When Sonic touched her shoulder, to gently shake her in an attempt to wake her up, her recoiled it immediately.

"Knux, she's freezing!" Sonic exclaimed. Knuckles knelt down beside his blue furred friend and gently touched Julie-Su's shoulder. The hedgehog had been right, she was freezing. However, she wasn't dead, she was still breathing. Knuckles gently shook her and her eyes fluttered open.

"Julie-Su, come on, you've got to get up. The rescue team are here." Knuckles stated.

"One hedgehog, that's going to be a lot of good." Julie-Su scoffed.

"She reminds me a lot of you Knuckles, always snapping at me." Sonic sighed.

Shadow watched as the rescue boats returned. He instantly spotted Knuckles in one of them, on his right side was Sonic, on his left was a pink female Echidna, who had several blankets around her. Her lips were basically blue and even from a distance, Shadow could see that she was shivering. When they boats pulled in, Shadow helped the Echidnas out of the boats, as well as Sonic and Knuckles, who was sticking rather close to the pink female Echidna who had been on his left.

"Sonic, whose that?" Shadow asked as one of the rescue team took the girl from Knuckles and helped her towards an ambulance, however, they ended up having to carry her there.

"Julie-Su, a weather specialist. If she hadn't of been with Knuckles when he answered the call, he wouldn't be here right now." Sonic explained. A few hours later, Shadow and Sonic had updated Knuckles on everything they knew about the meteorite and the magnetic forces.

"From what Sonic told me about it landing on an angel and not rolling, I can probably say there's something large and metal beneath our surface which probably pulled it towards it. However, this could be a problem. If the large meteor that hit the moon was a brown dwarf, then the moons magnetic force has increased." Knuckles explained.

"So, what does that mean?" Sonic asked.

"It means like the brown dwarf and the large metal object beneath our surface, the moon is going to be attracted to the planet and come closer to it, entering a new and potentially dangerous orbit." Knuckles stated. He quickly pushed the office chair he was sitting in to by pushing his hands against the desk, causing it to roll sideways. He stopped at a computer and started typing.  
"What are you doing Knuckles?" Shadow asked as he watched the Echidna.

"Looking at the moon's orbit patterns." Knuckles said as he continued typing. When he stopped, a look of concern came over the three's faces. The moon was in a new orbit; one that was much like an oval. It would come rather close to Mobius at some points, then go quite a distance away at other times. That could be the reason for the tidal waves and the dramatic change in temperature. However, it wasn't the moon's current orbit that concerned Knuckles and the others. It was changing, and it's new orbit was destined to have impact with Mobius.


End file.
